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Hayden Cardwell wins AAS Season Opener at Ponderosa, Skylar Marlar wins at Lake Cumberland and Kason Gipson wins the Mini All Stars Season Opener

The AAS is back! New Season, same goal: Becoming a Series Champion. We started the season with a double-header in Kentucky, at Ponderosa Speedway and Lake Cumberland Speedway. With the latest having their first-ever Mini Allstars race and the kids Season Opener.

We started the Season on Friday with 35 Cars signed in, in Junction City, KY. As always, we started with our MyRacePass Hot Laps. The fast time there was set by former Series Champion Hayden Cardwell with a 14.117. In second we had reigning Series Champion Tyler Arrington with a 14.283 and in third Jon Ellison with a 14.288. In fourth and fifth we had the Sise brothers, with Zach, 14.345, in front of Trevor, 14.354.

In BHR and Double Nickle Qualifying, the BHR Fast Time was set by Tyler Arrington with a 13.781. In second was Hayden Cardwell with a 13.822. Third was Parker Perry, 13.923, in fourth Jon Ellison, 13.926, and in fifth Skylar Marlar, 13.962.

Then we moved over to our Heat races, started by Hendrick Chevrolet Heat 1. That was won by Hayden Cardwell, who defended his position from Zach Sise in second. In third was Wesley Brummett and the last transfer spot went to Eliott Despain.

Outside Groove Heat 2 was then won by Parker Perry. He was followed by Logan Walls in second. In third was Adam Ahl and the fourth spot went to Jared Delk.

Tyler Arrington came in first in PPM Racing Products Heat 3. He was followed by Skylar Marlar in second and Keaton Smith in third. In fourth came Nicholas Byrd.

In American Racer Heat 4 Caled Todd crossed the line in first, in front of Jon Ellison in second and Adam Wright in third. The last transfer spot from a Heat race went to Braeson Fulton in fourth.

Then it was time for a Dash. The Winner of each Heat racing for the pole in the Feature. It was won by Hayden Cardwell. Just behind him in second was Parker Perry, in third Tyler Arrington and in fourth finished Caleb Todd.

In DirtRichTV B Feature 1 Jeff Watson drove himself into the show with a win. Him following would Clay Turner in second and Tyler Hoy in third.

The last transfer spots were decided in Gasko Gaskets B Feature 2. Trevor Sise was victorious here and got himself into the show. In second came Joshua Chesney and in third, the final spot for the feature, was Shane Crain.

With that it was time for our Feature Race, The Bull Ring Bash! We started out strong with a lot of clean racing laps until a caution flag turned the race upside down, as the restart caused a massive pile up. After that our leaders ran away with it, but Marlar was getting closer and closer. In the end the Win went to Hayden Cardwell who ultimately held Skylar Marlar to a second-place finish. Parker Perry finished third, in front of Zach Sise in fourth and Logan Walls in fifth. The remaining top 10 is as follows: Ryan Smith, Trevor Sise, Tyler Hoy, Jared Delk and Clay Turner.

The second night then took us to Lake Cumberland. There we had 18 entries and 7 for the Mini All Stars battling for victory.

In MyRacePass Hot Laps Nicholas Byrd set the fastest time with a 13.915. Skylar Marlar finished second with a 13.966, and in third was Ryan Smith with a 14.128. In fourth was Logan Walls, 14.160, and in fifth was Jordan Wesley, 14.188.

The BHR Fast Time in BHR Qualifying went to Jared Delk with a 13.890. In second finished Logan Walls with a 14.077 and in third finished Skylar Marlar with a 14.128. Ace Clayborn came in fourth, 14.156, and fifth was Nicholas Byrd, 14.182.

Hendrick Chevrolet Heat 1 went to BHR Fast Time winner Jared Delk, who held off Tyler Hoy, who finished second, to clinch inside pole for the Feature. Skylar Marlar came in third, Nicholas Byrd finished fourth and fifth was Parker Perry.

Logan Walls then went on to win Outside Groove Heat 2 in front of Ryan Smith who came in second, while Ace Clayborn finished third. Jordan Wesley was fourth and in fifth finished Chris Wilson.

Now it was time for our Feature, The Grand Opening Bash. A Big Part of this race was the long green flag racing which led to lapped traffic, which should be crucial to our Leaders. As Logan Walls and Skylar Marlar fought through the Fought each other through it was Marlar who came out on top and secured the win! Walls had to settle for second as Jared Delk finished third. In fourth was Nicholas Byrd and in fifth was Parker Perry. The second half of the Top ten is as follows: Ace Clayborn, Jeff Watson, Jordan Wesley, Tyler Hoy and Ryan Smith.

And of course, we cannot forget about our Mini All Stars who had their Season Opener here at Lake Cumberland Speedway.

They started with Hot Lap/ Qualifying. Kason Gipson finished first with a 20.261. In second was Stephen Lusher with a 22.035 and in third was Corbin Kincaid with a 23.313. Fourth was Haisley Simmons, 33.911, and fifth was Athena Chappel, 40.528.

The Mini All Stars Feature was a clean race from start to finish with great racing experience for the kids. It was won by Kason Gipson, while Stephen Lusher finished second. Third went to Ryder Chappel and fourth to Corbin Kincaid. In fifth finished Athena Chappel, sixth was Haisley Simmons and seventh Kinzer Norman.

We would like to thank our Sponsor in the 2026 Season:
Save A Lot, Houchens Food Group, PPM Racing Products, Rick Hendrick City Chevrolet - "Official GM Dealer of the AAS", American Racer Tire - "Official Tire of the AAS", Dirt Rich TV - "Official PPV Partner", VP Racing Fuels - "Official Fuel of the AAS", Pro Fabrication - "Official Header of the AAS", Gasko - " Official Gasket of the AAS", Mahle Motorsport North America, Wieland - "Official Aluminum of the AAS", BHR Fabrication, Double Nickle Race Cars, Outside Groove, Rocky Top Family, Pro Built Race Engines, Virginia Driveline, Velocity Race Cars, Hyperco, MD3, Peeping Dragon, QA1, Warrior Race Cars, WV Fireworks Outlet- Official Firework Provider, XS Power Batteries, Bennett Suspension- Hard Luck Award Sponsor, AC Customers Graphics, Fleming Enterprises

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